Storms do little damage

Snow caps the mountains in Angeles National Forest on Sunday, February 20, 2011after a rainstorm and cold weather on Saturday.

Snow caps the mountains in Angeles National Forest on Sunday, February 20, 2011after a rainstorm and cold weather on Saturday. (Roger Wilson/Staff Photographer)

Bill Kisliuk, bill.kisliuk@latimes.com

Locals bracing for a sloppy Saturday and possible mudslides in the hills instead enjoyed a cool, breezy calm between the storms.

Friday night saw powerful winds and about half an inch of rain at Bob Hope Airport, while a flood watch was in effect in the hills through early Sunday morning because of expected thunderstorms late Saturday and early Sunday. Snow levels in the mountains around Los Angeles were expected to dip to 3,500 feet or lower, according to the National Weather Service.

Friday night's storm brought the rain total for the season at Bob Hope Airport to about 12.2 inches, roughly 2 inches more than normal for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service. After a wet December, including relentless storms in the days before Christmas, the area saw less than an inch of rain in all of January.

Elisha Johnson and David Paladino of La Cañada Flintridge walked their dogs down the dry sidewalks of Ocean View Boulevard on Saturday morning. Johnson said she woke up, looked outside and said, "Good. The weathermen are wrong … again."

Their walk took them onto Manistee Drive, where homes are still being rebuilt after the February 2010 mudslides, and past the idle John Deere earthmover and unused self-help sandbag station on Ocean View.

Runoff was trickling steadily into the concrete spillway at the foot of the Mullally Debris Basin, where a single rock had washed up against the debris grate.

At the catch basin by Deukmejian Wilderness Park in Glendale on Saturday, the water level was at least 20 feet below the spillway. Hikers enjoyed a pleasant morning among the blooming lavender and shrubs taking root in an area scorched by the Station fire in 2009.

"I was surprised to wake up and see the sunshine and decided to take advantage of it," said Thomas Gervais of La Crescenta as he loaded his dog Rusty into the car after a hike.

The area is expected to dry out Sunday afternoon, with little chance of rain in the coming week. Eric Boldt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the outlook for the rest of the winter season is for drier-than-normal conditions.